Silicon solar cell manufacture

ABSTRACT

A silicon solar cell is manufactured by providing a carrier plate, and by applying a first contact pattern to the carrier plate. The first contact pattern includes a set of first laminar contacts. The silicon solar cell is further manufactured by applying a multitude of silicon slices to the first contact pattern, and by applying a second contact pattern to the multitude of silicon slices. Each first laminar contact of the set of first laminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximally two silicon slices. The second contact pattern includes a set of second laminar contacts. Each second laminar contact of the set of second laminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximally two silicon slices.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent application is a national stage application of thepreviously filed PCT patent application having the PCT applicationnumber PCT/EP2009/050298, filed on Jan. 13, 2009, and which claimspriority to the previously filed EP patent application having the EPpatent application number 08151169.3, filed on Feb. 7, 2008.

BACKGROUND

Solar cells are devices that convert light energy into electrical energyby the photovoltaic effect. There is currently a high demand for solarcells, because solar cells have many applications. For example, solarcells are used for powering small devices like calculators. Furthermore,solar cells are increasingly being used in vehicles and satellites.Solar cells also have the potential of becoming state-of-the-art powerplants, since solar cell technology is a technology branch favored bysociety. Society favors solar cell technology because the electricityproduced by solar cells is renewable ‘clean’ electricity.

Solar cells include a semiconductor material that is used to absorbphotons and generate electrons via the photovoltaic effect. Onesemiconductor material typically used for manufacturing solar cells issilicon. In solar cells, silicon can be used either as mono orpolycrystalline silicon.

State-of-the-art silicon solar cells typically include a set ofindividual silicon plates, each with a size about 15×15 centimeters(cm). Such state-of-the-art solar cells have various disadvantages,however. Due to the large size of the individual silicon plates, thebackside of these individual silicon plates are electrically connectedusing bus bars. The application of the bus bars to the silicon plates isperformed by high-temperature diffusion processes, which consume largeamounts of energy. High-energy usage during the manufacture of solarcells reduces the cost effectiveness of the solar cells. Furthermore,since bus bars are non-laminar backside contacts, the electricalcontacting of the backside of solar cells is not optimal.

The typically large size of the individual plates results in anotherdisadvantage: solar cells are usually connected in series in modules,creating an additive voltage. The reason for connecting solar cells—i.e.individual plates—in series is to minimize electrical resistance lossesresulting from the transport of electricity through electrical lines.However, assuming a given limited total area of a solar cell panelhaving a set of individual plates, just a limited number of individualplates can be used within the solar cell panel, due to the large size ofthe individual plates. Furthermore, to reach high operation voltagesmany individual plates have to be connected in series. For example, atypical individual solar cell plate only delivers a voltage of 0.6 volts(V). To obtain a typical operation voltage of a solar cell panel of 66V, about 100 individual silicon plates have to be connected in series,which requires—in the case where state-of-the-art sized solar cellplates are used—a large amount of space, which is often not available.

In addition, the individual current delivered from one individual stateof the art sized solar cell plate is rather high: assuming again thetypical size of a standard silicon plate that is 156×156 millimeters(mm), the total area of such a plate is 243 square cm. A typical platedelivers a power of 3.6 watts (W), which at a conversion efficiency of15% and a typical output voltage of 0.6 V corresponds to a current of 6amps (A). However, since individual bus bars are used to connect thebackside of the solar cell plates, the bus bars have to be designed in ahighly robust manner to withstand such high currents. This alsoincreases the costs of design and manufacturing of solar cells.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method of an embodiment of the invention is for manufacturing asilicon solar cell. The method provides a carrier plate, and applies afirst contact pattern to the carrier plate. The first contact patternincludes a set of first laminar contacts. The method applies a multitudeof silicon slices to the first contact pattern. Each first laminarcontact of the set of first laminar contacts is in spatial laminarcontact with maximally two silicon slices. The method applies a secondcontact pattern to the multitude of silicon slices. The second contactpattern includes a set of second laminar contacts. Each second laminarcontact of the set of second laminar contacts is in spatial laminarcontact with maximally two silicon slices.

A silicon solar cell of an embodiment of the invention includes acarrier plate, and a first contact pattern located on top of the carrierplate and that includes a set of first laminar contacts. The siliconsolar cell also includes a multitude of silicon slices located on top ofthe first contact pattern and a second contact pattern located on top ofthe multitude of silicon slices. Each first laminar contact of the setof first laminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximallytwo silicon slices. The second contact pattern includes a set of secondlaminar contacts. Each second laminar contact of the set of secondlaminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximally twosilicon slices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings referenced herein form a part of the specification.Features shown in the drawing are meant as illustrative of only someembodiments of the invention, and not of all embodiments of theinvention, unless otherwise explicitly indicated, and implications tothe contrary are otherwise not to be made.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D are diagrams illustratively depicting a methodfor manufacturing a silicon solar cell, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are diagrams depicting a first and second laminarcontact arrangement relative to silicon slices, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting the wiring of a set of silicon slices,according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram depicting a profile of a solar cell, according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a silicon solarcell, according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of theinvention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form apart hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specificexemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments may be utilized,and logical, mechanical, and other changes may be made without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the present invention. The followingdetailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense,and the scope of the embodiment of the invention is defined only by theappended claims.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a method of manufacturing a silicon solar cell. The methodprovides a carrier plate, and applies a first contact pattern to thecarrier plate. The first contact pattern includes a set of first laminarcontacts. The method applies a multitude of silicon slices to the firstcontact pattern. Each first laminar contact of the set of first laminarcontacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximally two siliconslices. The method applies a second contact pattern to the multitude ofsilicon slices. The second contact pattern includes a set of secondlaminar contacts. Each second laminar contact of the set of secondlaminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximally twosilicon slices.

In one embodiment, ultra-thin silicon slices having a typical size of 1centimeter (cm)×2 cm×50 micrometers (μm) are used to assemble the solarcell. The ultra-thin silicon slices can have a thickness in the range of10-20 μm. One advantage of the method described above is that a largeamount of individual silicon slices can be connected in series with eachother in an easy and inexpensive manner. In general, the individualsolar cells can be configured to deliver a large range ofcurrent/voltage ratios, by adapting the first and second contact patternwith respect to the position of the individual silicon slices. Via thefirst and second contact patterns, an almost arbitrary mix of serial andparallel interconnections between the individual silicon slices can beprovided. As such, a quasi backside contact capability can be provided.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, each first laminarcontact of the set of first laminar contacts is in spatial contact withexactly two silicon slices and each second laminar contact of the set ofsecond laminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with exactly twosilicon slices. As such, an easy serialization of individual siliconslices is possible. In accordance with another embodiment of theinvention, each silicon slice is in spatial laminar contact with exactlyone first laminar contact and one second laminar contact. In thisconfiguration, an optimal utilization of individual silicon slices isprovided.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the method furtherincludes passivating and/or anti-reflective coating the carrier plateand/or the silicon slices. Such passivation advantageously minimizes arecombination of charge carriers. Furthermore, the anti-reflectivecoating advantageously maximizes the amount of photons absorbed by themanufactured silicon solar cell, since the number of lost photons due toreflections on surfaces of the manufactured silicon solar cell isminimized.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the method furtherincludes metalizing the silicon slices on the side averted from thecarrier plate. The metallization of the silicon slices on the sideaverted from the carrier plate advantageous increases the probability ofphoto absorption, since photons that were not absorbed on their firstpassage through the silicon solar cell are reflected back into thesilicon solar cell. In another embodiment of the invention, the methodfurther includes n-doping the silicon slices after application of thesilicon slices to the first contact pattern. However, in general, thesilicon slices can be doped before applying them to the first contactpattern.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the method furtherincludes adhering the silicon slices to the first laminar contact and/oradhering the silicon slices to the second laminar contact. Adhesion ofthe silicon slices to the laminar contacts advantageously provides for asilicon solar cell that is extremely stable mechanically, since allcomponents stick together. In accordance with another embodiment of theinvention, the adhesion of the silicon slices to the first laminarcontacts is performed by applying a first contact glue to the set offirst laminar contacts or the silicon slices, where the first contactglue adheres the silicon slices to the first laminar contacts. Theadhesion of the silicon slices to the second laminar contacts can beperformed by applying a second contact glue to the set of second laminarcontacts or the silicon slices, where the second contact glue adheresthe silicon slices to the second laminar contacts. For example, theadhesion of the silicon slices to the first laminar contact can beperformed by anodic bonding techniques and/or the adhesion of thesilicon slices to the second laminar contacts can be performed by anodicbonding techniques.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the first or thesecond contact pattern can be applied to the carrier plate by printingor by lithography. For example, the printing can be a screen printingprocess. The printing can be performed using a hard mask. In this case,the printing further includes covering the carrier plate with a firsthard mask. The first hard mask includes a pattern of first openings thatuncover the carrier plate at areas designated for the first contactpattern. The printing process further includes depositing a maskingmaterial through the first hard mask on the carrier plate, removing thefirst hard mask, depositing the conductive material on the carrierplate, and removing the masking material from the carrier plate. Theremaining conductive material constitutes the first contact pattern.

With respect to the second contact pattern, the printing processincludes covering the multitude of silicon slices with a second hardmask. The second hard mask includes a pattern of second openings thatuncover the multitude of silicon slices at areas designated for thesecond contact pattern. The printing process deposits a masking materialthrough the second hard mask on the carrier plate. The method furtherincludes removing the second hard mask, depositing the conductivematerial on the multitude of silicon slices, and removing the maskingmaterial from the carrier plate. The remaining conductive materialconstitutes the second contact pattern.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the hard mask isprovided by using soft-stamping techniques. The usage of soft-stampingtechniques advantageously provides an easy and quick manner by which apolymer material can be stamped onto a surface, which is furtherultraviolet (UV) curved and acts as a mask. The high speed of such amask production process is of great advantage for mass productionpurposes.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the method furtherincludes applying a filler material to the silicon slices. The fillermaterial fills the gaps between adjacent silicon slices, and iselectrically isolating. The filler material further stabilizes thesilicon solar cell arrangement and thus eases the handling of the solarcell during an assembly procedure.

In another embodiment of the invention, a silicon solar cell includes acarrier plate, a first carrier plate, and a first contact pattern. Thefirst contact pattern is located on top of the carrier plate, andincludes a set of first laminar contacts. The solar cell furtherincludes a multitude of silicon slices located on top of the firstcontact pattern, where each first laminar contact of the set of firstlaminar contacts is in spatial laminar contact with maximally twosilicon slices. The silicon solar cell also includes a second contactpattern located on top of the multitude of silicon slices. The secondcontact pattern includes a set of second laminar contacts, where eachsecond laminar contact of the set of second laminar contacts is inspatial laminar contact with maximally two silicon slices.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the first contactpattern is displaced relative to the second contact pattern by theextension length of a silicon slice in the displacement direction. Suchdisplacement provides an optimal relative arrangement of the firstcontact pattern, the silicon slices, and the second contact pattern forserial connection of individual slices of the silicon solar cell. Theelectrical internal connections needed to obtain a serialized solar cellare thus easily provided, which reduces the risk of malfunctions andalso eases the production process. This in turn permits inexpensiveproduction of the silicon solar cells.

In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the first and/or thesecond contact pattern are transparent to light usable for energyconversion via the silicon slices. For example, the material of thefirst and/or the second contact patterns can include doped zinc oxide(ZnO) or indium tin oxide (ITO). By using such transparent contactpatterns, the first and the second contact patterns can be arranged insuch a way that the complete surface of the individual silicon slicesare covered without any interruption or gaps with electrical contacts.As such, the power density of the solar cell is maximized. In accordancewith another embodiment of the invention, the silicon slices includep-doped silicon. The silicon slices can include a photo-active p/njunction.

FIGS. 1A-1D illustratively depict a method for manufacturing a siliconsolar cell, according to an embodiment of the invention. In a firststep, as shown in FIG. 1A, a carrier plate 100 is provided. This isfollowed by the steps depicted in FIGS. 1B and 1C, which show theapplication of the first contact pattern to the carrier plate 100. Indetail, as shown in FIG. 1B, a mask 102 is applied to the carrier plate100. As can be seen in FIG. 1B, the mask is a rectangular grid of apolymer material. The polymer masking material can be deposited onto thecarrier plate 100 by using a hard mask. The hard mask includes a patternof first openings, where the first openings cover the carrier plate atareas designated for the first contact pattern. Alternatively, thepolymer masking material 102 can be stamped onto the carrier plate 100by soft-stamping.

Not shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C is the deposition of the conductivematerial on the carrier plate. Due to the presence of the maskingmaterial 102, the conductive material is deposited on the carrier platejust at areas not covered by the masking material 102. In FIG. 1C, theconductive material deposited onto the carrier plate 100 is depicted byreference numeral 104. The conductive material 104 constitutes the firstcontact pattern. It is noted that the above-described printing methodusing a hard mask technique can be replaced by any other standardlithography or printing technology. However, since the method ofmanufacturing a silicon solar cell is optimized for a highly efficientproduction process, the usage of hard mask technologies is desirable.Referring still to FIG. 1C, the carrier plate 100 is covered by thefirst laminar contacts 104, which are electrically and spatiallyinterrupted by the rectangular mask 102. In a further step not shown inFIG. 1C, the masking material 102 is removed. Such a removing process ofmaterial is known in the art as a stripping process.

Finally, in FIG. 1D the carrier plate is shown together with attachedsilicon slices 108, wherein the silicon slices 108 are attached to thefirst contact pattern 104. The silicon slices 108 can be applied to thefirst contact pattern 104 by, for example, pick-and-place technology. Tofinalize the silicon solar cell, a further second contact pattern isapplied to the multitude of silicon slices. This can be performed byusing the steps that have been explained in reference to FIGS. 1B and1C. As can be seen in FIG. 1D, between adjacent silicon slices 108, gaps110 are present.

To enhance the stability of the solar cell, a filler material (notshown) is applied to the silicon slices, where the filler material isfilling the gaps 110 between adjacent silicon slices 108. To provide asilicon solar cell with a high voltage output, individual silicon slicesare connected in series. This is performed in such a manner to beamenable to mass production of silicon solar cells. A solution of thatproblem is shown in FIGS. 2A-2C.

FIGS. 2A-2C illustrate a first and second laminar contact arrangementrelative to silicon slices, according to an embodiment of the invention.Shown in FIG. 2A is a top view of a set of first laminar contacts 104,which are separated from one another by gaps. As such, in the top viewof FIG. 2A, blank areas 106 of the carrier plate 100 are visible. Atthese blank areas 106, the first laminar contacts 104 are not coveringthe carrier plate 100. FIG. 2B shows the multitude of silicon slices108, which are arranged relative to each other in a rectangular lattice,where the total dimensions of the lattice correspond to the totaldimensions of the carrier plate 100.

FIG. 2C depicts tiles 200 forming the second laminar contact. Similar tothe first laminar contacts 104, the second laminar contacts 200 areseparated by gaps 206. By super-positioning FIG. 2C over FIG. 2A it isevident that the first contact pattern 104 is displaced relative to thesecond contact pattern 200 by the extension length of a silicon slice108 in the displacement direction (left to right), which in FIGS. 2A-2Cis the horizontal direction. The purpose of this relative arrangement ofthe first laminar contact 100 to the second laminar contact 200 isevident by considering two individual slices at the positions indicatedby the positions 204 in FIG. 2A. By super positioning FIG. 2B, whichincludes the lattice of individual slices 108, on top of FIG. 2A, it canbe seen that position 204 corresponds in FIG. 2B to the slices indicatedby the shaded area. By super positioning FIG. 2C onto FIG. 2B, it can beseen that the slices indicated by the shaded area in FIG. 2B correspondto the slice positions 202 in FIG. 2B. As such, via the first laminarcontacts 106, the relative positioning of the individual silicon slices108 on top of the first laminar contacts 104, as well as the relativepositioning of the second laminar contacts 200 on top of the individualsilicon slices 108, a serial interconnection of the individual siliconslices 108 in horizontal direction is provided.

As further clarification, FIG. 3 shows a wiring of a set of siliconslices, according to an embodiment of the invention. As denoted in FIG.3, the top horizontal lines correspond to the second laminar contacts200, where the horizontal bottom lines correspond to the first laminarcontacts 104. Between the first laminar contacts 104 and the secondlaminar contacts 200, individual silicon slices 108 are interposed. Byalternatingly connecting neighboring silicon slices 108 in thehorizontal direction with the first laminar contacts 104 and the secondlaminar contacts 200, a serial interconnection of individual siliconslices in the horizontal direction is achieved. It is noted that thisserialization is achieved by simply applying the first and secondlaminar contact patterns to the carrier plate. Additional wiring withina horizontal serial line of silicon slices is unnecessary. An additionalconnection from top to bottom is needed just for a serialinterconnection of neighboring vertical serialized silicon slices, suchas from the second contact 200 to the first contact 104.

However, if an additional connection from the second laminar contacts200 to the first laminar contacts 104 is undesired, individualhorizontally serially connected silicon slices can be interconnectedwith respect to neighboring first laminar contacts 104 in the verticaldirection and second laminar contacts 200 the in vertical direction.This arrangement yields a further parallelization of the silicon slicesin the vertical direction but maintains the serialization of the siliconslices in the horizontal direction. In this way, high power solar cellscan be manufactured.

FIG. 4 depicts a profile of a solar cell, according to an embodiment ofthe invention. The bottom of the solar cell includes the carrier plate100, which is transparent to light incident from the bottom. The nextlayer on top of the carrier plate 100 is the first laminar contact 104.In the profile of FIG. 4, two first laminar contacts 104 on the left andon the right side are provided, and which are separated by anelectrically nonconductive filler material 400. On top of the firstlaminar contacts 104 are silicon slices 108. Each silicon slice 108 isseparated from a neighboring silicon slice 108 by a further electricallynonconductive filler material 400.

Furthermore, the two neighboring silicon slices 108 in the middle of thesolar cell depicted in FIG. 4 are interconnected by a second laminarcontact 200 such that a serial interconnection of the silicon slices 108is provided. The circuit diagram of FIG. 3 is reflected within the solarcell profile of FIG. 4. Proceeding in FIG. 4 from left to right, anelectric current can flow from the very left silicon slice 108 to theunderlying first laminar contact 104, from this contact 104 to the nextsilicon slice 108, from said silicon slice 108 to the second laminarcontact 200, from the second laminar contact 200 to the next rightsilicon slice 108, from this silicon slice 108 to the underlying firstlaminar contact 104, and then again to the next right silicon slice 108.Also shown in FIG. 4 is an additional coating 404 which can, forexample, be a passivation coating to reduce recombination effects thatlower the efficiency of solar cells. The layer 404 may also be orinclude a highly reflective material such as silver or aluminum, toprovide an increased absorption probability in order to reflect backlight which is incident to the carrier plate 100 but is not absorbed bythe silicon slices 108.

FIG. 5 shows a method for manufacturing a silicon solar cell, accordingto an embodiment of the invention. In step 500, a cleaning of the glasscarrier plate is performed using a wet bench. This ensures that highquality solar cells can be manufactured without any embedding ofunwanted dust or dirt. Step 500 is followed by step 502, which is apatterning for the bottom contact using, for example, printing orlithography technologies. In one embodiment, in step 502 a polymer isprinted onto the carrier plate using a hard mask, which in thesubsequent step 504 is cured, such as by thermal or UV curing.

The polymer printed onto the carrier plate covers, as a negative print,the areas which are not to be covered by the first contact pattern. Thefirst contact pattern is deposited onto the carrier plate in step 506.For example, step 506 may be achieved by sputtering a deposition of thefirst contact pattern material, such as, for example, aluminum zincoxide (AlZnO). This step is followed by step 508, which is anothercleaning step of the carrier plate on which the first contact pattern isnow deposited. Not shown in FIG. 5 is the step of stripping—i.e.,removing the printed polymer from the carrier plate—since this polymermask is not needed in further manufacturing steps of the solar cell.

After the cleaning step 508, in step 510 contact glue is deposited onthe first contact pattern that was previously deposited in step 506. Thedeposition of the contact glue onto the contact pattern can, forexample, be achieved by employing state-of-the-art printing technologiessuch as surface mount device (SMD) hard masks. Instead of using acontact glue, anodic bonding can be used to fix silicon slices onto thecontact pattern. The silicon slices are placed onto the contact patternby pick and place technologies in step 512. If a glue was used in step510, in step 514 the contact glue is cured.

Since in step 506 just certain areas are covered with the first contactsdue to the presence of the printed polymer, and since in step 512 thesilicon slices are placed on top of these contacts, gaps are presentbetween neighboring placed silicon slices. These gaps are filled in step516 using an isolation polymer. This polymer is cured in step 518 using,for example, thermal or UV curing. In the last step 520, odd slices areconnected at the topside using printing wiring technology. In general,the connection of the odd slices at the topside can be performed usingthe same steps already described above for the deposition of the firstcontact pattern, namely the steps 502, 504 and 506.

The technology that has been described above reduces silicon materialusage for solar technology by up to 90%, which represents a tremendouscost reduction in the manufacture of silicon solar cells. The describedproduction process further provides for high assembly automation.Backside contacts are secured by an easy connection technology. The cellcan be configured simply for any arbitrary voltage/current ratio,starting from typically 0.6 V/12 A, up to 220 V/0.06 A.

Finally, it is noted that, although specific embodiments have beenillustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art that any arrangement calculated to achieve thesame purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. Thisapplication is thus intended to cover any adaptations or variations ofembodiments of the present invention. As such and therefore, it ismanifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claimsand equivalents thereof.

1. A method of manufacturing a silicon solar cell, the methodcomprising: providing a carrier plate (100), applying a first contactpattern to the carrier plate (100), the first contact pattern comprisinga set of first laminar contacts (104), applying a multitude of siliconslices (108) to the first contact pattern, wherein each first laminarcontact of the set of first laminar contacts (104) is in spatial laminarcontact with maximally two silicon slices (108), applying a secondcontact pattern to the multitude of silicon slices (108), wherein thesecond contact pattern comprises a set of second laminar contacts (200),wherein each second laminar contact of the set of second laminarcontacts (200) is in spatial laminar contact with maximally two siliconslices (108).
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each first laminarcontact of the set of first laminar contacts (104) is in spatial laminarcontact with exactly two silicon slices (108), each second laminarcontact of the set of second laminar contacts (200) is in spatiallaminar contact with exactly two silicon slices (108).
 3. The method ofclaim 1 or 2, wherein each silicon slice is in spatial laminar contactwith exactly one first laminar contact and one second laminar contact.4. The method according to any of the previous claims, furthercomprising passivating and/or anti-reflective coating of the carrierplate (100) and/or the silicon slices (108).
 5. The method according toany of the previous claims, further comprising metallizing the siliconslices (108)—on the side averted from the carrier plate (100).
 6. Themethod according to any of the previous claims, further comprisingn-doping the silicon slices (108) after application of the siliconslices (108) to the first contact pattern.
 7. The method according toany of the previous claims, further comprising adhering the siliconslices (108) to the first laminar contacts (104) and/or adhering thesilicon slices (108) to the second laminar contacts (200).
 8. The methodof claim 7, wherein the adhesion of the silicon slices (108) to thefirst laminar contacts (104) is performed by applying a first contactglue to the set of first laminar contacts (104) or the silicon slices(108), the first contact glue adhering the silicon slices (108) to thefirst laminar contacts (104) and/or the adhesion of the silicon slices(108) to the second laminar contacts (200) is performed by applying asecond contact glue to the set of second laminar contacts (200) or thesilicon slices (108), the second contact glue adhering the siliconslices (108) to the second laminar contacts (200).
 9. The method ofclaim 7 or 8, wherein the adhesion of the silicon slices (108) to thefirst laminar contacts (104) is performed by anodic bonding techniquesand/or wherein the adhesion of the silicon slices (108) to the secondlaminar contacts (200) is performed by anodic bonding techniques. 10.The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the first orthe second contact pattern is applied to the carrier plate (100) byprinting or by lithography.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein theprinting is a screen printing process.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the printing is performed by means of a hard mask.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the printing further comprises: covering thecarrier plate (100) with a first hard mask, the first hard maskcomprising a pattern of first openings, the first openings uncoveringthe carrier plate (100) at areas designated for the first contactpattern, depositing a masking material (102) through the first hard maskon the carrier plate (100), removing the first hard mask, depositing aconductive material on the carrier plate (100), removing the maskingmaterial (102) from the carrier plate (100), wherein the remainingconductive material constitutes the first contact pattern.
 14. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the printing further comprises: covering themultitude of silicon slices (108) with a second hard mask, the secondhard mask comprising a pattern of second openings, the second openingsuncovering the multitude of silicon slices (108) at areas designated forthe second contact pattern, depositing a masking material through thesecond hard mask on the carrier plate (100), removing the second hardmask, depositing a conductive material on the multitude of siliconslices (108), removing the masking material from the carrier plate(100), wherein the remaining conductive material constitutes the secondcontact pattern.
 15. The method of claim 13 and/or 14, wherein the hardmask is provided by means of soft stamping techniques.
 16. The methodaccording to any of the previous claims, further comprising applying afiller material (400) to the silicon slices (108), wherein the fillermaterial (400) is filling the gaps (110) between adjacent silicon slices(108), wherein the filler material (400) is electrically isolating. 17.A silicon solar cell, the solar cell comprising: a carrier plate (100),a first contact pattern, the first contact pattern being located on topof the carrier plate (100), the first contact pattern comprising a setof first laminar contacts (104), a multitude of silicon slices (108),the multitude of silicon slices (108) being located on top of the firstcontact pattern, wherein each first laminar contact of the set of firstlaminar contacts (104) is in spatial laminar contact with maximally twosilicon slices (108), a second contact pattern, the second contactpattern being located on top of the multitude of silicon slices (108),wherein the second contact pattern comprises a set of second laminarcontacts (200), wherein each second laminar contact of the set of secondlaminar contacts (200) is in spatial laminar contact with maximally twosilicon slices (108).
 18. The solar cell of claim 16, wherein the firstcontact pattern is displaced relatively to the second contact pattern bythe extension length of a silicon slice in the displacement direction.19. The solar cell according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the first and/orthe second contact pattern are transparent to light usable for energyconversion by means of the silicon slices (108).
 20. The solar cellaccording to any of the previous claims 17 to 19, wherein the materialof the first and/or second contact patterns comprises doped ZnO orindium tin oxide (ITO).
 21. The solar cell according to any of theprevious claims 17 to 20, wherein the silicon slices (108) comprisep-doped silicon.
 22. The solar cell according to any of the previousclaims 17 to 21, wherein the silicon slices (108) comprise aphoto-active p/n junction.